DOCSLIB.ORG

Women and Inheritance in Norman England

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
Women and Inheritance in Norman England Prosopon Newsletter 1 Copyright © Judith A. Green, 2001 Women and Inheritance in Norman England: The Case of Geva Ridel.T1 Judith A. Green (The Queen’s University of Belfast) A few years ago I wrote of aristocratic women in early twelfth-century England that we must be sure not to make the surviving evidence fit into a framework of what we know to have been custom later, by assuming that a son passed over in favour of a daughter must have been illegitimate, or that there may have been two marriages, or that daughters inherited all their mothers’ lands.2 In other words, how flexible were norms of inheritance – I use ‘norms’ rather than ‘customs’ here deliberately – where women were concerned in early twelfth-century England? I suggested that, although we probably only hear part of the story from the written evidence, we need to place women in the context of their families to understand the decisions that were made about inheritance and marriage. Further problems arise when we remember that the written records usually relate to aristocratic women and (often) to special cases: the marriage settlement of Miles of Gloucester and Sybil of Neufmarché, for instance.3 Yet some of the greatest honours of England, such as Belvoir,4 Huntingdon,5 and Wallingford,6 to name but three, descended through women. The claims of women, whether as heiresses or as wives, thus presented opportunities for their overlord, the king, and they were also sensitive political issues. Marriage was, as Sir Richard Southern wrote, ‘the easiest road to ready-made wealth’ in Norman England,7 and if some became (by modern standards) millionaires on marriage, others must have been disappointed or angry when decisions about important marriages were announced. One of the best known texts dealing with a marriage settlement in early twelfth-century England is that of Richard Basset, near the start of his career as a royal justice and sheriff of King Henry I, and Matilda, daughter of another royal justice, Geoffrey Ridel, who had drowned in the wreck of the White Ship. This, the Titanic of the twelfth century, had robbed the king of his heir and two other children, plus leading members of his entourage, who were returning from Normandy in November 1120 after a four-year absence. The king’s happiness and his plans for the future had been destroyed, but he moved quickly to remarry in the hope of an heir, and there were pressing decisions about government which could not wait whilst he withdrew for a protracted period of mourning. The casualty list included Richard, the young earl of Chester, who had died without heirs, and Geoffrey Ridel, a royal justice, and the question of their successors was related in the person of Geva Ridel, mother of Matilda, whose marriage was disposed of in the text we shall now look at in more detail.8 The text survives in the form of a royal notification addressed to three earls, David of Northampton and Huntingdon, not yet king of Scots, the earl of Leicester, Robert II de Beaumont, and Ranulf I earl of Chester, and the sheriffs of those counties in which Geoffrey Ridel had held land. The notification was twice copied into the thirteenth-century Basset cartulary in the British Library, one of the earliest surviving collections of charters and memoranda for a lay family surviving from medieval England, its compilation recently redated to the years between 1236 and 1241.9 The main provisions of the text are that Prosopon Newsletter, 12 (August 2001) Prosopon Newsletter 2 Copyright © Judith A. Green, 2001 Richard Basset was awarded permission to marry a daughter of Geoffrey Ridel and custody of Geoffrey’s land until Robert Ridel could be knighted (i. e. attained his majority) and could marry a granddaughter of Ralph Basset. Ralph was the father of Richard and there is a clear sense conveyed by this terminology of the Bassets’ concern not to lose Geoffrey Ridel’s lands. Richard was to have twenty poundsworth of land with his wife as her marriage portion in chief (‘of my fief’) and the service of four knights. If Robert Ridel died without an heir by his wife, the king granted to Richard Bassset and his heir by the daughter of Geoffrey Ridel, all Geoffrey’s land of whomsoever it was held, that is, the under-tenancies as well as the tenancies in chief. And if the daughters (plural) of Geoffrey were not married in the lifetime of Robert Ridel or whilst they were in the custody of Richard Basset, Richard was to make provision for them according to the king’s advice and consideration. The king concluded that this gift and agreement had been made at the request and advice of Ranulf earl of Chester, William (de Roumare), Ranulf’s half-brother, Nigel d’Aubigny and other kinsfolk. The notification was witnessed by the chancellor of the earl of Chester, the dean of Lincoln, a clutch of royal familiares, three Bassets, perhaps Richard’s brothers, and prominent members of Ranulf of Chester’s entourage. The place of issue was Woodstock, one of the king’s favourite residences, and the date of issue was between January 1121 and 10 June 1123 when the king left England for Normandy. Henry is known to have been at Woodstock in March 112110 and again in January 1123.11 It is tempting to ascribe the text to the earlier date, when Henry took a series of crucial decisions about patronage in the aftermath of the wreck of the White Ship. This is a remarkable text for a variety of reasons: first there is the careful provision for the custody of heirs to a royal official, not their mother, who does not figure here. Secondly, there is the involvement of Ranulf of Chester, who had recently been allowed to succeed his cousin Richard as earl, his half-brother William de Roumare and their kinsman, Nigel d’Aubigny, one of the king’s closest companions: here is a valuable insight into those able to influence royal decisions. Thirdly, a close inter-relationship between the affairs of royal officials, Geoffrey Ridel, Ralph and Richard Basset, is indicated. Fourthly, there is the king’s interest in all of this to ensure that Geoffrey Ridel’s successor in the midlands was a safe pair of hands. Perhaps there is a parallel with the appointment of Geoffrey de Clinton as sheriff in nearby Warwickshire.12 My concern here, however, is with the unnamed mother in the case, Geva Ridel, of whom it has been claimed that ‘perhaps no figure in medieval history has excited more controversy or engaged the attention of genealogists so much,’13 an overstatement, but one which alerts us to the interest of the problems surrounding her life and lands. To understand the ramifications, however, we need a few details about her husband Geoffrey, and about and the lands of Robert de Boucy which passed via Geva to the Bassets. The early stages of Geoffrey’s career are obscure.14 He, or a man of the same name, was mentioned in Domesday Book as having come to England from Apulia in the company of Roger Bigod’s brother.15 A man named Geoffrey Ridel, who became duke of Gaeta, was prominent amongst the Normans of south Italy at this time, and he obviously may well have been related to our Geoffrey.16 The place of origin of the latter has not been identified, but it seems likely that it was somewhere in western Normandy, possibly in the neighbourhood of Mont-Saint-Michel, where Geoffrey’s brother Matthew was a monk.17 A man from this region might well have attracted the notice of Henry I, who before his accession had been Prosopon Newsletter, 12 (August 2001) Prosopon Newsletter 3 Copyright © Judith A. Green, 2001 count of the Cotentin.18 Matthew Ridel was promoted to the important abbacy of Peterborough in 1102, but remained abbot for only a short period.19 Geoffrey Ridel began to appear as a witness to royal documents for the first time during the early years of Henry I’s reign, particularly in relation to the east midlands.20 It has been pointed out that Henry’s justices tended to work in the region where their own lands were situated,21 and thus it seems likely that Geoffrey by this time was married to Geva Ridel. The manor of Drayton in Staffordshire was Geva’s marriage portion, given to her by her father Earl Hugh of Chester: it was so identified in a charter of Earl Ranulf II of Chester.22 Yet by the time of the Basset cartulary, it was evidently family tradition that Geva was the daughter and heiress of Robert de Boucy. For the Bassets, this explained how the Boucy estates had come into their family.23 In her two surviving charters, however, Geva styled herself as the daughter of Earl Hugh.24 After the death of her husband Geoffrey, Geva never seems to have remarried, and in the 1140s she turned to the foundation of a religious house, Canwell Priory in Staffordshire, and it was in favour of Canwell that her charters were issued. These make no reference to her maternal kin, and Geva styled herself by reference to her husband and her father. There is no doubt that Geva was the channel through which the Boucy estates passed to the Bassets; the question is when and how? Was Geva the child of a lawful marriage of her father? Dugdale thought she was, because Drayton had been granted to her in free marriage, but it seems he was mistaken.25 Geva was a Latinized form of the old English name Giofu, and it seems possible therefore that she was the child of a liaison between Earl Hugh and an Englishwoman.26 Earl Hugh, as already mentioned, is known to have married only once to a wife of high rank: if Geva was her daughter then this would surely have been recalled? He is also known to have been promiscuous, because the chronicler Orderic Vitalis, in a memorable pen portrait, mentioned Hugh’s numerous sons and daughters by concubines.27 Two sons are mentioned elsewhere by the author: one, Robert, became a monk at Saint Evroul and, briefly, abbot of Bury St Edmunds.28 Another, Otuel, became tutor to Henry I’s heir Prince William and died with his master in the White Ship.
Load more

Recommended publications
  • The Implementation and Impact of the Reformation in Shropshire, 1545-1575
    The Implementation and Impact of the Reformation in Shropshire, 1545-1575 Elizabeth Murray A thesis submitted in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts United Faculty of Theology The Melbourne College of Divinity October, 2007 Abstract Most English Reformation studies have been about the far north or the wealthier south-east. The poorer areas of the midlands and west have been largely passed over as less well-documented and thus less interesting. This thesis studying the north of the county of Shropshire demonstrates that the generally accepted model of the change from Roman Catholic to English Reformed worship does not adequately describe the experience of parishioners in that county. Acknowledgements I am grateful to Dr Craig D’Alton for his constant support and guidance as my supervisor. Thanks to Dr Dolly Mackinnon for introducing me to historical soundscapes with enthusiasm. Thanks also to the members of the Medieval Early Modern History Cohort for acting as a sounding board for ideas and for their assistance in transcribing the manuscripts in palaeography workshops. I wish to acknowledge the valuable assistance of various Shropshire and Staffordshire clergy, the staff of the Lichfield Heritage Centre and Lichfield Cathedral for permission to photograph churches and church plate. Thanks also to the Victoria & Albert Museum for access to their textiles collection. The staff at the Shropshire Archives, Shrewsbury were very helpful, as were the staff of the State Library of Victoria who retrieved all the volumes of the Transactions of the Shropshire Archaeological Society. I very much appreciate the ongoing support and love of my family.
    [Show full text]
  • The Basset Family: Marriage Connections and Socio-Political Networks
    THE BASSET FAMILY: MARRIAGE CONNECTIONS AND SOCIO-POLITICAL NETWORKS IN MEDIEVAL STAFFORDSHIRE AND BEYOND A THESIS IN History Presented to the Faculty of the University of Missouri-Kansas City in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree MASTER OF ARTS By RACHAEL HAZELL B. A. Drury University, 2011 Kansas City, Missouri THE BASSET FAMILY: MARRIAGE CONNECTIONS AND SOCIO-POLITICAL NETWORKS IN MEDIEVAL STAFFORDSHIRE AND BEYOND Rachael Hazell, Candidate for the Master of Arts Degree University of Missouri- Kansas City, 2015 ABSTRACT The political turmoil of the eleventh to fourteenth centuries in England had far reaching consequences for nearly everyone. Noble families especially had the added pressure of ensuring wise political alliances While maintaining and acquiring land and wealth. Although this pressure would have been felt throughout England, the political and economic success of the county of Staffordshire, home to the Basset family, hinged on its political structure, as Well as its geographical placement. Although it Was not as subject to Welsh invasions as neighboring Shropshire, such invasions had indirect destabilizing effects on the county. PoWerful baronial families of the time sought to gain land and favor through strategic alliances. Marriage frequently played a role in helping connect families, even across borders, and this Was the case for people of all social levels. As the leadership of England fluctuated, revolts and rebellions called poWerful families to dedicate their allegiances either to the king or to the rebellion. Either way, during the central and late Middle Ages, the West Midlands was an area of unrest. Between geography, weather, invaders from abroad, and internal political debate, the unrest in Staffordshire Would create an environment Where location, iii alliances, and family netWorks could make or break a family’s successes or failures.
    [Show full text]
  • Addendeum to Was Hugh De Whelock a Norman from France
    Copyright © 2014 Kevin R. Wheelock Prince William County, Virginia September 1, 2014 Addendum To “Was Hugh de Whelock a Norman from France?” After the essay “Was Hugh de Whelock a Norman from France?” was published in February 2011, additional information has been found supporting the assertion that Hugh de Whelock was a French Norman. The original essay asserts that Hugh de Whelock or his ancestors may have arrived in England with other French Normans with similar surnames (e.g., Willock, Walloche, etc.) during or shortly after the Norman Conquest of England. The earliest records show Hugh de Whelock in England during the reign of King Henry II (1154 – 1189 AD), at which time the village of Hoiloch was released from Roger Mainwaring, who was known to be a Norman, to Hugh de Whelock. This transaction occurred at a time when Henry II was dispersing land to loyal Normans in order to achieve political stability. Since the Welsh population around Cheshire and northern Wales were known to rebel and revolt against Norman rule, including that of Henry II, the essay asserts that Hugh may have changed the name of the village from Hoiloch to Whelock to assert control over the area and to win favor with the king and his court. In addition, the name “Hugh de Whelock” has a distinct French etymology, and the use of the French prefix “de” by Hugh de Whelock and his immediate descendants does not follow Anglo-Saxon conventions for surnames. Over the next few centuries, the French prefix “de” was eventually dropped. The Anglicization process continued and transformed the surname “Whelock” into “Wheelock.” After the essay was published, the most significant development is that Hugh de Whelock appears to have been known as “Hugone de Weloc.”1 In addition, manuscripts from this period, translated from the Latin, connect Hugone de Weloc with people and religious organizations known to be associated with the Normans.
    [Show full text]
  • Staffordshire Pottery and Its History
    Digitized by the Internet Archive in 2012 with funding from University of Toronto http://archive.org/details/staffordshirepotOOwedg STAFFORDSHIRE POTTERY AND ITS HISTORY STAFFORDSHIRE POTTERY AND ITS HISTORY By JOSIAH C. WEDGWOOD, M.P., C.C. Hon. Sec. of the William Salt Archaeological Society. LONDON SAMPSON LOW, MARSTON & CO. LTD. kon Si 710620 DEDICATED TO MY CONSTITUENTS, WHO DO THE WORK CONTENTS Chapter I. The Creation of the Potteries. II. A Peasant Industry. III. Elersand Art. IV. The Salt Glaze Potters. V. The Beginning of the Factory. VI. Wedgwood and Cream Colour. VII. The End of the Eighteenth Century. VIII. Spode and Blue Printing. IX. Methodism and the Capitalists. X. Steam Power and Strikes. XI. Minton Tiles and China. XII. Modern Men and Methods. vy PREFACE THIS account of the potting industry in North Staffordshire will be of interest chiefly to the people of North Stafford- shire. They and their fathers before them have grown up with, lived with, made and developed the English pottery trade. The pot-bank and the shard ruck are, to them, as familiar, and as full of old associations, as the cowshed to the countryman or the nets along the links to the fishing popula- tion. To them any history of the development of their industry will be welcome. But potting is such a specialized industry, so confined to and associated with North Stafford- shire, that it is possible to study very clearly in the case of this industry the cause of its localization, and its gradual change from a home to a factory business.
    [Show full text]
  • The Declaration of Sports As a Via Media: Popular Recreations and Religious Conflict in Early Seventeenth Century England
    THE DECLARATION OF SPORTS AS A VIA MEDIA: POPULAR RECREATIONS AND RELIGIOUS CONFLICT IN EARLY SEVENTEENTH CENTURY ENGLAND By Christopher R. Steiner, B.A. Pennsylvania State University A Thesis Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Master of Arts in History to the Office of Graduate and Extended Studies of East Stroudsburg University of Pennsylvania December 14, 2019 ABSTRACT A Thesis Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Master of Arts in History to the Office of Graduate and Extended Studies of East Stroudsburg University of Pennsylvania Student’s Name: Christopher Steiner, B.A. Title: The Declaration of Sports as a Via Media: Popular Recreations and Religious Conflict in Early Seventeenth Century England Date of Graduation: December 14, 2019 Thesis Chair: Christopher Dudley, Ph.D. Thesis Member: Michael Gray, Ph.D. Abstract The conflict over popular recreations in early seventeenth century England arose out of the disorder caused by the social, economic, and demographic changes of the time. King James I and King Charles I issued the Declaration of Sports to protect recreations against attack from religious reformers. Most historians argue that the Stuart monarchs issued the declaration to assert their authority over the use of recreations. This thesis, through a close analysis of the Declaration of Sports and contemporary writings of the Stuart monarchs and their supporters, reveals that James I’s and Charles I’s recreational policies align with their ecclesiastical policies of creating a via media or middle way between Puritanism and Catholicism. The efforts to create a via media of sports reveal the conflict over popular recreations to include many of the religious, social, and cultural issues that led to the outbreak of civil war in the 1640s.
    [Show full text]
  • The History of Staffordshire Bull Terriers
    “This article is the first in a series to be published in The Stafford on breed history to mark the 60th anniversary of Kennel Club recognition in 1995. It mainly concentrates on the modern era, but not exclusively. The article first appeared in the Kennel Gazette in October 1987 and was part of a history of Southern Counties SBT Society.” The Stafford Knot has made every reasonable effort to contact the copyright holder of this article. The author, A.W.A. Cairns is deceased. We have been unable to contact next of kin. Although in the context of Kennel Club recognition the Staffordshire Bull Terrier is a relatively 'new breed', on the basis of the many drawings available, a Stafford-like animal existed at the turn of the 19th Century. A classic example is "Crib and Rosa", a painting by Abraham Cooper, circa 1816. For almost seventy years "Rosa" was taken as the model bulldog, but the modern bulldog bears little resemblance to her. Allowing for a slight prejudice, the only modern dog of this type is the Staffordshire Bull Terrier. An engraving of "Crib and Rosa" by Scott bears the caption - "Engraved by John Scott. Published in 1817". "Rosa" was by the Honourable Berkeley-Cravens "Old Bowler" out of Bowlems tulip-eared bitch, by Paddington Jones' "Hoppy" out of the famous Staffordshire bitch. "Crib" was got by Mrs Halls "Nimble" out of "Rosa". It is not suggested That the 'famous Staffordshire bitch' was a Staffordshire Bull Terrier, but it could be concluded that animals of that type, existed in that county before 1816.
    [Show full text]
  • Stuart Parliaments
    STUART PARLIAMENTS General 5063. Abel, Deryck. "Liberty v. authority in Stuart England." Contemporary Review 165 (Jan.-June 1944): 47-52. 5064. Aylmer, G. E. "Place bills and the separation of powers: some seventeenth-century origins of the 'non- political' civil service." Transactions of the Royal Historical Society 5th ser., 15 (1965): 45-69. 5065. Bennett, Edward Earl. "Parliament and the colonies to 1715." Ph.D., University of Wisconsin, 1925. 5066. Bowdoin, James. "Ms. journals of the Long, Little, &c. Parliaments." Collections of the Massachusetts Historical Society 3rd ser., 2 (1830): 323-64. [A detailed study of the manuscript copy of the Commons Journals 1650-1677 held by the New York Historical Society.] 5067. Braddick, M. J. "Parliamentary lay taxation, c. 1590-1670: local problems of enforcement and collection, with special reference to Norfolk." Ph.D., University of Cambridge, 1988. 5068. ---. Parliamentary taxation in seventeenth-century England: local administration and response. Woodbridge: Royal Historical Society, 1994. 353p. 5069. Brown, Keith M. "The origins of a British aristocracy: integration and its limitations before the Treaty of Union." In Conquest and Union: fashioning a British state, 1485-1725, edited by Steven G. Ellis and Sarah Barber: 222-49. London: Longman, 1995. 5070. Cherry, George L. Early English liberalism: its emergence through parliamentary action, 1660-1702. New York: Bookman Associates, 1962. 325p. 5071. "A compleat collection of all the remarkable speeches in both Houses of Parliament: discovering the principles and temper of all parties and factions; the conduct of our chief ministers, their management of public affairs, and the maxims of government, from the year 1641, to the happy union of Great Britain.
    [Show full text]
  • Wills and Religious Change in the Archdeaconry of Stafford, 1532-1580
    WILLS AND RELIGIOUS CHANGE IN THE ARCHDEACONRY OF STAFFORD, 1532 - 1580 by JENNIFER DAVIES A thesis submitted to the University of Birmingham for the degree of MASTER OF PHILOSOPHY Department of (Medieval) History School of History and Cultures College of Arts and Law University of Birmingham February 2016 University of Birmingham Research Archive e-theses repository This unpublished thesis/dissertation is copyright of the author and/or third parties. The intellectual property rights of the author or third parties in respect of this work are as defined by The Copyright Designs and Patents Act 1988 or as modified by any successor legislation. Any use made of information contained in this thesis/dissertation must be in accordance with that legislation and must be properly acknowledged. Further distribution or reproduction in any format is prohibited without the permission of the copyright holder. ABSTRACT The entire complement of wills from the deanery of Leek probated between 1532 and 1580, about 1,300, have been examined to assess response of the testators to religious change through the first fifty years of the Reformation, by detailing the impact on their religious sentiments and bequests. While change in this backward agricultural community was late and driven from above, unexpectedly, once initiated, it took hold rapidly. It is suggested that this was due to the actions of the Protestant Bishop Thomas Bentham, anxious to mitigate fears voiced by critics of his weak implementation of government edicts in his diocese. He advanced change through monitoring and resolute control of his clergy. A transition from traditional religious sentiments is observed in the will-writing output of individual clergy: as priests appointed during earlier, Catholic regimes died or resigned, and they were replaced by men supporting the Elizabethan Settlement.
    [Show full text]
  • This Document Has Been Created by AHDS History and Is Based on Information Supplied by the Depositor
    This document has been created by AHDS History and is based on information supplied by the depositor SN 5130 - Digital Library of Historical Directories, 1750-1919: Staffordshire, Warwickshire and Worcestershire, 1818-1892 Study Documentation The Digital Library of Historical Directories is an online teaching and research resource produced and owned by the University of Leicester, located at www.historicaldirectories.org. It makes available high quality digitised reproductions of some 600 local and trade directories for England and Wales, for the period 1750-1919. For the purposes of deposit in the UK Data Archive, the collection has been divided into 35 studies on a regional basis. Digitisation involved scanning the hard- copy source to produce a graphic image of each page and then processing those images to generate a machinereadable text file (used on the website as the basis for searches). Both kinds of file have been deposited in the Data Archive. For each directory, the Archive therefore contains (1) a set of page images in the form of monochrome TIFF files, and (2) a single text file resulting from OCR of the TIFFs. In view of the large number of pages processed - totalling over 360,000 - it was impracticable to attempt any checking and correction of the OCR results. The accuracy of the text files is consequently rather variable. The directories contained in the present study are detailed in the following pages. The descriptions have been generated from those on the website and use similar fields, as follows: SOURCE ............. The title of the original volume. PUBLISHED .......... Publication details (place, publisher and year).
    [Show full text]
  • Staffordshire History
    Staffordshire History The County of Staffordshire is rich in history and continues to attract the attention of historians. One of the earliest published resources of information about Staffordshire is William Camden’s Britannia – first published in Latin in 1588 but further revised editions followed up until 1607. Camden’s Britannia was the first comprehensive topographical and geographical historical study to be published, and as such it is a useful starting point for early information relating to Staffordshire. Other early county histories include the Natural History of Staffordshire (which includes a section on archaeological remains in the county), written by Robert Plott and published in 1686 and the History and Antiquities of Staffordshire by the Rev. Stebbing Shaw – of which he only completed his work up to the first part of the second volume and died in 1802. In 1817 William Pitt published A Topographical History of Staffordshire which it is generally accepted relies heavily on the work of earlier researchers, particularly Robert Plott. The next significant work was published in 1880 by John Alfred Langford entitled Staffordshire and Warwickshire Past and Present, then in 1894 Rupert Lee published Bibliotheca Staffordiensis, a bibliographical account (with commentary) of printed matter relating to the County of Stafford containing some twenty thousand entries. Probably the most significant volumes published during the twentieth century are the Staffordshire volumes of the Victoria County History series, designed to “record the history of every county of England in detail.” This series, known as the VCH, is produced to high scholarly standards and is generally acknowledged to be an authoritative work.
    [Show full text]
  • A Brief History by WILL SWALES Welcome
    a brief history BY WILL SWALES welcome Welcome to a brief history of The Swan Hotel, Stafford. During the late spring and early summer of 2016 we had the good fortune to be able to revitalise and refurbish one of our fabulous sister inns, The King’s Head in Richmond, North Yorkshire. During the planning stage of this project we started to look hard at the building and its many historical attributes, at how some parts of the building had been added during its 300 years of existence. And whilst contemplating the small changes and additions we wanted to make, it dawned on me that we will only be its custodians for a generation or two at most. I can’t foretell who will follow but started thinking about who had been its keepers in the past. Therefore, we asked a good friend if he would research The King’s Head and try to separate the fact from the fable; what’s true and what has been elaborated during the storytelling process over the years. Will Swales made such a good job of The King’s Head that we then asked him to complete the same task for The Swan Hotel. What follows is that research. We think it’s as accurate as can be, but naturally there are many gaps and we would welcome any additional information. I hope you enjoy this small booklet and the hospitality and service we provide within The Swan Hotel. Please feel free to take this copy with you. Kevin Charity Managing Director The Coaching Inn Group www.coachinginngroup.co.uk Copyright © 2019 The Coaching Inn Group Ltd., Boston, Lincolnshire, PE21 6BZ Designed by www.penny-wilson.co.uk “i doubt if there are three adjacent buildings still standing anywhere today that can illustrate 250 years of architectural change by such splendid examples.” 3 three buildings and 250 years of architectural change The earliest-known Swan Inn in Stafford stood in the town’s Market Square as long ago as the 1400s.
    [Show full text]
  • The Military Obligations of the English People 1511-1558 Goring, John Jeremy
    The military obligations of the English people 1511-1558 Goring, John Jeremy The copyright of this thesis rests with the author and no quotation from it or information derived from it may be published without the prior written consent of the author For additional information about this publication click this link. http://qmro.qmul.ac.uk/jspui/handle/123456789/1420 Information about this research object was correct at the time of download; we occasionally make corrections to records, please therefore check the published record when citing. For more information contact [email protected] The Military Obligations of the English People 1511-1558 By Jotfn Jeremy Goring A Th sis Submitted. for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy London 1955 of the firat four Tuore, often overlapping and sometimes clashing. By the end of Mary's reign, however, the quasi-feuda]. system had been almost completely superseded by the national one, and from this time forth the armies of the Crown were to be composed almost exclusively of the men of the local militias. Abbreviations used in the footnotes of this thesis Add. Ch. = Additional Charter. Acid. MS. = Additional Manuscript. A.P.C. Acts of the Privy Council. B.I.H.R. Bulletin of the Institute of Historical Research. B.M. = British Museum. Bad. = Bodleian Library. Cal. S.P.Span. Calendar of State Pape's, Spanish. Cal. S.P.Ven. = Calendar of State Papers, Venetian. Cam. Soc. = Camden Society. Cant.C.R.O. = Canterbury City Record Office. Cat. Anc. Deeds. Catalogue of Ancient Deeds. C.C.C.C. Corpus Chnisti College, Cambridge.
    [Show full text]